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Fish with Quantum Performance Tuned rods & reels on Andy Couch's boat.

Alaska Fishing Reports 2007

2007 Alaska fishing reports and forecasts cover Deshka River and Little Susitna River king salmon and silver salmon fishing trips in Alaska summer seasons and winter ice fishing in Mat-Su Valley lakes road accessible from Anchorage, Palmer, and Wasilla. Our season fishing forecast is posted first, however, you may skip the forecast by scrolling down, or clicking  fishing report.

2007 Alaska Salmon Fishing Forecasts

King Salmon - Expect Big Deshka River Return
The Deshka River king salmon spawning escapement has exceeded 30,000 fish each of the past 7 years, and Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) data collected at Deshka River Weir indicates another excellent run, over 30,000 fish, should return in 2007.  Fishermen will be allowed to use bait starting on May 15,  this year, and (like the past 2 years) we expect the Department of Fish and Game will once again issue an emergency order doubling the daily bag limit for king salmon and opening the river to 24 hours a day fishing starting approximately May 25.  We encourage all anglers to make sure an emergency order has been issued before keeping a double king salmon limit or fishing outside of normal king salmon season hours of 6 a.m. to 11 p.m.   

Little Susitna River King Salmon - Expect Better Fishing
A higher than average spawning escapement count for the primary parent year of the 2007 return indicates Little Susitna River may have better than average king salmon fishing for king salmon that average about 10 pounds larger than on the Deshka River.

Silver Salmon Forecast - Expect Solid Fishing
Parent year spawing escapements were good for both 2007 Deshka and Little Susitna River silver salmon returns, although lower than the parent spawing escapement for 2006, so I  expect average, but lower overall numbers of silver salmon returning than what we experienced in 2006 -- There may be a silver lining in that  smaller numbers of returning salmon can some times mean larger average fish weight.

My goal is to post a daily fishing report for each trip I run (when I have time I may post reports form other guides as well) but if time constraints delay us from updating for a few days, you can also visit previous year's reports to see what happened then.  Salmon run timing is relatively consistent from year to year, so that should give you a rough idea of what to expect. Enjoy our 2007 reports.

Viewing: August 2007

August 02, 2007

Little Susitna River -- I guided a morning group of 5 guests who caught 8 silver salmon while casting with Flashtrap Spinners. Patterns that produced fish were #5 pink, #5 Silver, and #4 orange. Water level came up to almost the average flow for this time of year with the recent rain, but looks like it is starting to drop again. We are seeing more salmon rolling in some of the holes now, but it still takes plenty of casting to catch them.

August 01, 2007

Little Susitna River -- I guided 3 guests in the morning who caught 4 silver salmon and hooked and lost a few more silver salmon on Flashtralp spinners.

I guided 2 people in the afternoon who caught 3 silver salmon and also hooked and lost a few other silvers as well. We saw salmon rolling in several spots where we could not get many to bite. More salmon continue to become available each day.

August 03, 2007

Little Susitna River -- I guided a morning group of 4 people each of whom caught a limit of silver salmon on Flashtrap Spinners. #4 orange was the hot spinner pattern along with #5 silver.

I guided an afternoon group of 2 guests who caught 3 silver salmon on Flashtrap Spinners.

August 04, 2007

Little Susitna River -- I guided a morning group of 4 guests who caught 7 silver salmon on Flashtrap Spinners. #4 silver and #4 orange were the hot spinner patterns for the morning trip. Everyone was good and soaked by the rain by the end of the trip.

I guided an afternoon group of 4 guests who caught 4 silver salmon and 1 chum salmon on Flashtrap Spinners. It was another wet trip, so I expect the river could be rising in the next couple days.

August 05, 2007

Little Susitna River -- I fished with a morning group of 3 fishermen and each of us caught a limit of silver salmon on Flashtrap Spinners. It was another wet morning.

I guided a group of 6 guests who caught 4 silver salmon on Flashtrap Spinners. Lots of boat traffic and we had trouble getting bites in the afternoon. The river water level should be going way up over the next two or three days. Monday is the openning day of bait fishing on the Little Susitna, and we have been looking forward to fishing bait for a while. Will be interesting to see how well we do with lower than normal numbers of salmon available and rapidly rising water. May also be the busiest fishing dau of the silver salmon season on the Littlte Susitna River.

August 06, 2007

I guided a morning group of 4 guests who each caught a limit of silver salmon on Fire Cured salmon eggs drifted below ESB bobbers.

I guided a second group of 4 guests who caught 7 silver salmon on Fire Cured salmon eggs drifted under ESB Bobbers.

I took 5 family members fishing later in the evening, each of whom caught a limit of silver salmon on Fire Cured salmon eggs drifted under ESB Bobbers.

It was a great first day of bait fishing on the Little Susitna River, although there does not seem to be as many fish as some other years, fishing was good today.

August 07, 2007

Little Susitna River -- The water on the river had risen considerably overnight, and there was a considerable amount of debris floating down river, nonetheless, I guided a morning group of 4 guests, each of whom caught a limit of silver salmon on Fire Cured salmon eggs fished under ESB Bobbers.

I guided a second group of 4 fishermen, each of whom also caught a limit of silver salmon on Fire Cured salmon eggs fished under ESB Bobbers.

I took the same 5 family members who had fished with me late yesterday evening again this evening. We fished several different holes and tried some different techniques, but they only managed to catch 4 silver salmon. All of the silvers were caught on Fired Cured salmon eggs. One fish was caught driting the biat under an ESB Bobber, and 3 silvers were caught while fishing the bait in combination with a Corkie behind a jet diver.

The river was risen for at least half of the day today, and stayed high through out the afternoon. We are hoping the water improves tomorrow and feel confident that it will, however it will likely take several days for the river to drop back to a normal flow. Fishing will likely improve to some degree once the water stabilizes and then as it starts to drop.

August 08, 2007

Little Susitna River -- I guided 4 people in the morning, each of whom caught a limit of silver salmon while drifting Fire Cured salmon roe underneath ESB Bobbers. The high water level on the lower river seems to have crested some time yesterday, and even though the river did not seem much lower this morning, there was less debris floating down. We fished several different holes catching a few salmon from a handful of spots in order to catch limits. Like yesterday evening, we did not see many fish jumping.

August 09, 2007

Little Susitna River -- I guided a morning group of 4 guests, each of whom caught a limit of silver salmon on Pautzke Fire Cured salmon eggs fished under ESB Bobbers. One member of the group also caught and kept a fresh chum salmon he planned to cook for dinner this evening. I also fished a bit of the time during this trip and caught 1 silver salmon on cured salmon roe fished with a Beau Mac Spinning Cheater behind a jet diver, and a 2nd silver salmon on salmon roe drifted under an ESB Bobber.

I guided an afternoon group of 4 fishermen, each of whom caught a limit of silver salmon on Fire Cured salmon eggs once again fished under ESB Bobbers.

The water level is definitely dropping now, but the river remained dark colored with less than 18 inches of visibility. I`ve been fishing cured salmon roe bait exclusively since August, however, river conditions have improved enough that I would feel quite comfortable fishing #4 and #5 Flashtrap Spinners as well. I`ve talked with some fishermen who prefer to fish artificial lures who have continued to catch all or most of their salmon on lures even after the river openned to bait fishing.

August 10, 2007

Little Susitna RIver -- I guided a morning group of 4 fishermen who each caught a limit of silver salmon on orange Fire Cured salmon eggs fished under ESB Bobbers. After everyone else had already limited, I caught a limt as well using the same bait and tackle. Our group fished on a school of extremely nice fresh silvers and the largest one weighed almost 12 pounds.

I guided an afternoon group of 6 fishermen who each caught a limit of silver salmon while drifting Fire Cured salmon eggs under ESB Bobbers. Once again the fish were nice and fresh and some had sea lice still clinging to their sides. The largest afternoon silver salmon weighed over 10 pounds.

Water level remains higher than normal for this time of year, but continues to drop. Plenty of people fished the Little Susitna River today, so I believe fishing pressure should also be quite heavy this weekend.

August 11, 2007

Little Susitna River -- I guided 4 fishermen in the morning, each of whom caught a limit of silver salmon while drifting Fire Cured salmon eggs under ESB Bobbers. Before catching a limit of silver salmon, one guest also caught and kept a chum salmon. Most of the silvers we caught were a bit smaller today, although one guest hauled in a thick sided male of about 12 pounds.

I guided 4 anglers in the afternoon who, once again, each caught a limit of silver salmon on salmon eggs fished under ESB Bobbers. The largest afternoon fish weighed about 10 pounds.

The water still has good color to it, so although salmon can not be spotted in the river in most places, they are not near as spooky as when the water is clearer. I did see some people fishing and catching salmon on lures during our afternoon trip. Action was a bit slower on our charters today, and I considered fishing lures, however, I felt if we were patient with the salmon roe we should catch limts that way.

August 12, 2007

Little Susitna River -- I guided a morning group of 5 anglers who limited on silver salmon and also caught 1 chum salmon. The last 2 silver salmon were caught on
# 4 silver bladed Flashtrap Spinners, while the rest of the salmon were caught on Fire Cured salmon roe drifted under ESB Bobbers. The river is rapidly dropping back to normal low flow levels, and the salmon were not biting as readily for us today.

In the afternoon I fished with Frede and a couple friends and we caught a total of 5 silver salmon. 3 fish were caught on Fire Cured salmon eggs fished under ESB Bobbers, and 2 silver salmon were caught casting #4 silver bladed Flashtrap Spinners. Although the slamon seemed more reluctant to strike today, I`m expecting another week of prime silver season as fishing pressure will likely drop off after the busy weekend.

August 13, 2007

Little Susitna RIver -- I guided a morning group of 4 fishermen who each caught a limit of silver salmon on Fire Cured salmon eggs fished under ESB Bobbers. 1 fishermen also caught a small silver salmon on salmon eggs fished behind a jet diver.

I guided an afternoon group of 4 guests who caught 7 silver salmon on Fire Cured salmon eggs fished under ESB Bobbers. Water continues to drop although it was quite colored up today.

August 15, 2007

I guided a morning group of 2 anglers who caught and released a few silver salmon before keeping their limits of 2 silver salmon each. Each guest caught one keeper salmon on a Flashtrap Spinner and one keeper salmon on Fired Cured salmon eggs fished below ESB Bobbers.

There was less fishing pressure on the river today, and I`m expecting that to continue for the remainder of the season, although I do expect more people out fishing on the weekends. Currently we have good availability for fishing charters from Tuesday August 21 and later into August and early September.

August 16, 2007

Little Susitna River -- I guided 2 people on the morning trip who caught a total of 5 silver salmon and 1 rainbow trout. 2 silver salmon were caught on #4 Flashtrap Spinners. and the remaining fish were caught casting and drifting Fire Cured salmon eggs under ESB Bobbers.

I fished with 3 additional family members after the first trip, and each of us mangaed to catch a limit of silver salmon. All of the silvers were caught by casting and drifting Fire Cured salmon eggs under ESB Bobbers.

The river was higher, faster, and perhaps a bit muddier today after heavy rain yesterday. The river was still rising in the morning, but seemed like it may have levelled off before we quit fishing in the early afternoon.

August 17, 2007

Little Susitna River -- I guided 5 people in the morning who each caught a limit of silver salmon. Most of the salmon were caught on salmon eggs drifted under ESB Bobbers, but 4 were also caught on Flashtrap Spinners.

I guided an afternoon group of 4 guests who caught 2 silver salmon on salmon eggs drifted under ESB Bobbers. Each guest at least briefly hooked a salmon, however, although I was able to find some salmon in several holes, I definitely had trouble finding very many that were willling to bite. The group also fished salmon eggs behind jet divers for a good portion of the trip, and had some bites and brief hook ups using that techinque, but did not manage to land any of those fish.

August 18, 2007

Little Susitna River -- I guided 2 fishermen in the morning who each caught 3 silver salmon on Flashtrap Spinners, although they did not each keep a limit. Salmon in most of the spots we fished were reluctent to strike, and through persistence the anglers were able to catch a few nice fish.

In the morning I also dropped off 2 anglers who caught limits of silver salmon on Egg Sucking Leach flies.

In the afternoon I fished a couple spots with 3 friends and we caught 3 silver salmon and 1 chum salmon. 2 of the silver salmon were caught on #4 silver/black Flashtrap Spinners and the chum and remaining silver salmon were caught on Fire Cured salmon eggs drifted under ESB Bobbers.

Fishing pressure was relatively light in the morning, with considerably more boat anglers circulating through the holes in the afternoon. Numbers of silver salmon available in the areas we are fishing are lower than on most years, however, there continues to be enough salmon that most charter guests are limiting -- and especially on the morning trips. Although we have had recent reservations, we continue to have some fishing charter availability on and after Tuesday, August 21. Like most seasons in the recent past, I am planning to guide Little Susitna River salmon fishing trips through approximately September 10. If you would like to fish with us this year for silver salmon on the Little Susitna River give us a call at 907-746-2199.

August 21, 2007

Little Susitna River -- I guided 5 people who each caught a limit of silver salmon, although some of the salmon were getting darker in color, and one person did not keep any fish. The fish were caught on flies, Flashtrap Spinners, and Fire Cured salmon eggs drifted under ESB Bobbers. The water has dropped and cleared considerably in the past few days, and is now slightly lower than normal for this time of year.

August 22, 2007

Little Susitna River -- I fished with 3 people, 2 of whom needed to leave early in order to go on a flightseeing trip they had arranged earlier. The two that had to leave early both caught a couple silver salmon on Fire Cured salmon eggs fished under ESB Bobbers.

The other fisherman and I each caught an additional silver salmon after going back out for a while, and I had also caught a silver earlier. All 3 of those silvers were caught on #4 Flashtrap Spinners.

We saw pleny of silver salmon while we were fishing, but had to work at getting them interested in biting. Water is low and clear and looks to be dropping even more.

The fish are a mixture of nice fresh salmon and darker fish, and I am thinking that we will have to continue fishing hard to catch salmon. In order keep good quality fish to eat, anglers may have to release a few darker fish first. I suppose if the water rose a bit and colored up again that the fish might be less spooky and bite better again.

I`ll be guiding another group again tomorrow, so check back in the evening if you would like to know what we catch.

August 23, 2007

Little Susitna River -- I guided a group of 4 people who caught 7 silver salmon. 4 silver salmon were caught on Fire Cured salmon eggs fished under ESB Bobbers and 3 salmon were caught on #4 silver Flashtrap Spinners. All of the fish were blushed today, and although we were fishing over good sized schools of silvers all morning, we had to coax them into striking. River water level continues to drop and the water is clearer making it easier to spot salmon and sight fish for them.

August 24, 2007

I took day off and did not fish.

August 25, 2007

Little Susitna River -- I fished with 3 guests and each of us caught a limt of silver salmon, including some fresh chrome salmon. Most of the salmon were caught on Fire Cured salmon eggs drifted below ESB Bobbers, however, several salmon were also caught on Flalshtrap Spinners.

I guided an afternoon group of 4 guests who caught 1 silver salmon on a #3 black Flashtrap Spinner. The group fished both spinners and Fire Cured salmon eggs on several small schools of silver salmon, but only managed to hook one salmon. The river was quite busy with anglers fishing in the morning, and we just could not find many salmon willing to strike.

August 26, 2007

Little Susitna River -- I guided 2 fishermen in the morning who caught limits of ocean fresh silver salmon on Fire Cured salmon eggs drifted under ESB bobbers. Two of the salmon still had sea lice clinging to them. A few fish were also hooked on silver blade Flashtrap Spinners.

I guided an afternoon group of 3 guests, each of whom caught a limit of silver salmon on Fire Cured salmon eggs drifted under ESB Bobbers.

August 27, 2007

Little Susitna River -- I guided a morning group of 4 guests, eahc of whom caught a limit of coho salmon on Fire Cured salmon eggs drifted under ESB Bobbers. Once again some of the salmon where in ocean chrome shape with sea lice still clinging to their sides. Water continues to drop and is quite clear.

I am currently feeling confident about guests catching limits on morning trips, and bites seem easier to come by before the sun gets too high and bright. We currently have morning availability for Tuesday and Wednesday morning.. If you would like to join us for a guided salmon fishing trip give us a call at 907-746-2199

August 19, 2007

Took day off and did not fish.

August 20, 2007

Took day off and did not fish.

August 28, 2007

No trips booked today, however, check back Thursday evening to learn what guests catch on my Thursday charters .

August 29, 2007

No Trips booked for today, however, check back Thursday evening for reports on my Thursday charters.

According to the USGS water chart the Little Susitna River continues to drop even lower.

Alaska Department of Fish and Game silver salmon escapelment numbers for Little Susitna River are currently lower than management objectives. I talked with Dave Rutz, the area fisheries biologist, and unless there is a dramatic increase in escapement numbers, the Little Susitna RIver fishery will likely see emergency changes in fishing regulations by Monday, September 3. Stay tuned for updates on this development.

August 30, 2007

Little Susitna River -- I guided a morning group of 3 guests, each of whom caught a limit of silver salmon on Fire Cured salmon eggs drifted under ESB Bobbers.

I guided an afternoon group of 4 guests, who caught 7 silver salmon and 1 chrome chum salmon on Fire Cured salmon eggs drifted under ESB Bobbers.

Water is quite low and continues to drop.

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game issued an emergency order today, that will change the Little Susitna River silver salmon fishery to catch and release only for silver salmon starting on Tuesday September 4. 2007.

August 31, 2007

Little Susitna River -- I guided 4 guests who caught 8 silver salmon and 1 rainbow trout. 2 silver salmon were caught on silver blade Flashtrap Spinners and 6 silver salmon and the rainbow trout were caught on salmon eggs drifted under ESB Bobbers. The group fished fairly hard to get bites this morning, and like usual we also had a few bites we missed, and also hooked and lost a few salmon before we could land them. On the drive to the river I saw a red fox along the road this morning which always adds a little excitement. We also saw sandhill cranes and ducks along the river.